Just when you thought broadcast TV was on its deathbed, a new broadcast network is born. In September, CBS and Warner Bros. launched the CW, combining the WB (the upstart that created Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) with UPN (America’s Next Top Model – come on, you totally watch it). Match made in heaven or unholy union? Only the ratings will tell. We asked Dawn Ostroff, CW’s president of entertainment, for a primer on starting a network in the age of YouTube.
WIRED: Besides hits, what does it take to make a network successful?
OSTROFF: You have to create a brand. Being able to handpick the best of both networks is a great advantage, because we have established franchise shows we can use to create a brand for our key demographic of 18- to 34-year-olds.
That’s not exactly rocket science. Every channel drools over the 18- to 34-year-olds.
We’re the only broadcast network focusing solely on this demographic. And if you think about it, all the major life events happen to people between the ages of 18 and 34. They graduate high school, go to college, get their first apartment, and buy their first car. We will have the ability to advertise to these viewers when they’re going through all of this.
Do networks matter? With TiVo, I don’t care if CSI comes from CBS or Spike TV.
Television creates a community. People like to watch shows on the same night so they can be a part of what’s happening. Our goal is to be an interactive network. We are going to have something called CW Lab, where viewers can, say, take pictures of all their friends at a party and edit them into a promo that we’ll use on-air.
Wouldn’t they just use YouTube for that – why launch an old-school network?
You’ll see lots of new things from this old-school TV network.
– Lucas Graves
credit Pablo Lobatom
Illustration of Dawn Ostroff, CW’s president of entertainment.
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